Rangers badly outplayed in 4-0 loss to the Islanders

It wasn’t a good performance for the “work in progress” New York Rangers

Despite all of the hype and anticipation, it was a typical game for the New York Islanders and ditto for the New York Rangers.  The Isles stifled the Rangers’ offense, scored opportunistic goals and got better as the game went on.  The Rangers took too many penalties, passed too much, lost too many faceoffs and were outplayed in all aspects of the game.  As much as things change, the more they stay the same.

It didn’t help that Igor Shesterkin showed an awful lot of rust and allowed some soft goals.  It also didn’t help that they were playing a team that was a game away from playing in the Stanley Cup Finals.  It didn’t help that the Rangers are the youngest team in the NHL and the Islanders are one of the oldest.

The good news is they are right back at it on Saturday night, but if they don’t fix some of the problems that were glaringly obvious throughout the game, it won’t be pretty.

The game

The first regular season of the pandemic era began with a bizarre introduction of the players to an empty arena.  It was great to see hockey again, but the impact of COVID-19 was everywhere, especially in the pre-game ceremony.

The Rangers got off to a good start with the top line hemming in the fourth line of the Islanders. With three shot attempts in the first minute, the Rangers looked good.  Then, Jack Johnson took a holding penalty in front of Shesterkin, holding Anders Lee’s stick and the game turned, just like that.

Adam Fox blocked an Anthony Beauvillier shot but it bounced right to Brock Nelson who had a point blank shot and fired it home.

That was a goal that Shesterkin had no chance on.  The problem was that after a Jacob Trouba pinch, the Rangers let Anders Lee walk into the zone on a two on one and he beat Shesterkin on a shot that was stoppable.

K’Andre Miller was victimized, but he played it the right way, taking away the pass and giving Lee the shot.

11 minutes later, Mathew Barzal beat Shesterkin on another shot he should have stopped and the Islanders took a 3-0 lead to the dressing room.

Shots were almost even after one period with the Isles up 10-9, the problem was that the  Blueshirts took three penalties to the Islanders’ one and were never able to get a flow going.

Both teams took two penalties in he second period and shots were even and both teams scored one goal, the only problem was that the Isles goal counted and the Rangers goal didn’t.

9:15 into the second period, with the Rangers swarming, Jacob Trouba poked a loose puck into the net, clearly before the whistle was blown.  The referees ruled no goal and after video review, they inexplicably confirmed the call on the ice.

The NHL doesn’t force referees to explain their rulings so we will never know why they called it no goal.  The phantom “in the act of blowing the whistle” reason is the only answer.

That no-goal loomed large when Jordan Eberle scored the Isles fourth goal on the power play with Alexis Lafrenière off for hooking.   Or at least they said that Eberle scored though it sure looked like Anders Lee.

It’s not to say that if the Rangers had been able to make the score 3-1 it would have mattered, but after the goal was disallowed and the Islanders scored, they were toast.

If there was anything positive. it was the play of Igor Shesterkin in the third period. The Isles poured it on, outshooting the Blueshirts 12-3.  Shesterkin made some outstanding stops.

The referees did it again, calling an Islander goal good when Shesterkin had made the first stop.  It was really no different than the disallowed Ranger goal, but this time the call went the Islanders’ way.  It took a challenge by David Quinn for goalie interference for the score to be disallowed.

At first it looked like Shesterkin was hurt,but he shook off the collision and continued int he game.

The Rangers took three more penalties in the third period, including a double minor by Tony DeAngelo, one for slamming the penalty box door.  That Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty earned DeAngelo an extended stay on the bench.

All in all the Islanders were 2-8 on the power play while the Rangers were 0-3.   Despite the two power play goals, the Ranger penalty kill was actually quite effective, not allowing a shot on several power plays.

The game was a classic Rangers effort.  David Quinn pulled no punches “We didn’t play fast enough, we didn’t use our speed to our advantage.  Every time we got  a puck we stood and looked to see who we could make a pass to on the other side of the ice. That approach doesn’t work against anybody, let alone the Islanders. ”  He had a word of warning for his team. “We’ve got to be quick learners, we’re playing Saturday and it will be a good lesson, a reminder to a bunch of guys who don’t have it in their DNA to play the way we need them to.”

He was generous in his assessment of the three rookies, Lafrenière, K’Andre Miller and Shesterkin, saying that they got better as the game went on.   Miller did look overmatched a few times and found himself on the bench for a long period from the second to the third period.